Reloading old brass?

[linc]

I'm fairly new to reloading ( been at it for a whole 6 months.I bought some mixed head stamp brass,fc, rem umc, super winchester, rp, some lc and some ls that i guess are old mil. brass. Anyway mosted of it is tarnished and looks like some of it has been reloaded before. I figure they would be safe but I'm trying to dial my rifle in with a good load. So what ya'll think? chunk them or load same matched head stamps and give them a try? Its 3006 by the way.

 

[Rookie]

Re: Reloading old brass?

linc,

You're gonna see your tightest groups by sticking to the same headstamp.

 

[willsnipe]

Re: Reloading old brass?

The tarnished stuff will revert to that state pretty quickly. Many 06 loads are pretty forgiving, but at very least seperate the commercial brass from the military. The military brass is substantially thicker, so has less case capacity. If you're loading anywhere near maximum, that difference will make your pressures and velocities fluctuate widely. Bad for accuracy and possibly dangerous to boot. Rookie is right though. If you can afford it, uniform brass is ideal.

 

[linc]

Re: Reloading old brass?

Thanks guys, I have some I have been shooting that are matched head stamps. Dont have a chronograph. The accurate loads Im getting are light. Gonna keep on tweeking it, maybe I can find something that is fast enough yet retains the accuracy Im looking for. Guess I'll just let this brass sit for now.

 

[chris112]

Re: Reloading old brass?

Sort it out. If there is at least 50 or more of any head stamp use those as a group. If there is less than that of any consider them for plinking loads.
Have fun.

 

[The Mechanic]

Re: Reloading old brass?

start new. Lots of that brass out there. My guess is you don't go through 100 rounds in a weekend. Am I right? Why not take you time, use good components, work on good shooting form to make the most out of your practice. That will make things safe, accurate results, and best of all good groups that you can be proud of.

 

[linc]

Re: Reloading old brass?

No not 50 of any same head stamp. Mechanic that is what I was thinking as far as using this stuff. Im using other good components and putting them in this brass that looks like it has been shot and sitting in the weather for a month. I bought them sight unseen and they were cheap.

 

[Halfnutz]

Re: Reloading old brass?

Hang on to them and use them for setting up your case trimmer or if they aren't too bad (good and clean) you can use them for setting your dies, make dummy rounds (drill a hole through in three places so you can tell at a glance).
The really good ones can be used for small lots (20-25 pcs) for trying out a different bullet/powder combination than what you normally use.
I have had partial boxes of bullets given to me or picked them up somewhere or another that these small lots will work fine for.